


To Be Alive

by FutureThorn



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Brothers, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Not Beta Read, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-13 02:36:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16884033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FutureThorn/pseuds/FutureThorn
Summary: Ace has been questioning why he's alive for as long as he can remember. There have been some moments that have stood out, shown him how happy he is to be alive.Now that he's with the Whitebeard Pirates, though, he's questioning it once more.





	To Be Alive

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own One Piece.
> 
> I've never written for this fandom before, but I found myself really wanting to write something for Ace. I hope you all enjoy this!

The first time that Ace felt truly glad to be alive was when he met Sabo. The runaway noble had taken one look at Ace and decided that the orphan was everything he would need in a partner in crime and friend. To be someone’s first choice for such a thing was an amazing feeling and Ace found himself wanting to feel it again.

The second time that Ace was happy for his life was when Luffy declared it a good thing. After the Bluejam incident where Luffy had been beaten up but refused to betray the older boys, the rubber child had confessed that he would prefer that Ace stay alive. He had, without knowing it, reinforced the same idea that Sabo had planted in Ace’s mind: the boy was important to them and was worthy of life and love. Trading sake with them was an easy next step for Ace to take, showing his own commitment to the other boys.

The next time that Ace was grateful for his life was when he was able to comfort Luffy after Sabo lost his. Though deep down there was a whisper in Ace’s mind that it may have been better that he died in Sabo’s place, there was no time to dwell on it as Luffy sobbed in his arms.

Ace lost track of the number of times he was glad to be alive in the time he spent with his brother before setting out as a pirate. Luffy just had this way of making someone feel grateful to be alive. He knew how to make them feel the joy in life, something that Ace had always had trouble with before.

Each time that a person joined Ace’s crew and became a Spade Pirate, the young captain felt like his life was worth something. These people chose to follow him, he gave them direction and purpose. It was humbling but empowering to be a leader to a group like them.

Ace was glad to be alive the majority of the time, but he still questioned his life at times. That habit had never quite gone away. So when he first runs into the Whitebeard Pirates, he finds himself met with every insecurity about his existence that he could ever have.

 

~TBA~

 

“Thatch?”

“Yeah, Ace? What’s up?”

Ace was silent for a moment before the words slipped past his lips, “Are you happy I’m alive?”

“Of course I’m happy you’re alive! You’re like my little brother! I love you, man,” Thatch blurted out, his shocked voice almost panicked by the question.

“Oh,” the surprised expression on Ace’s face alarmed Thatch. It wasn’t the kind of expression that could be faked. Ace truly hadn’t known that Thatch thought his life was a good thing.

“Ace, we’re gonna meet up with some people real quick,” he told the younger pirate, grabbing his wrist and physically leading him to Whitebeard’s office, the room large enough for what he had in mind.

“Pops, we need to talk,” Thatch declared as he walked into the office, not caring who was already there. Marco was the only other person in the room, but the cook’s tone had both him and the captain looking at him with concern.

“Thatch, my son, what’s wrong?”

“Can you call the other commanders? I’ll explain when they get here,” Thatch replied, still holding Ace’s wrist.

The giant man nodded, his hand going up to a cord that rang a bell, calling a commander meeting in his office. It wasn’t anything unusual for him to call such a meeting as he did it frequently just to check up on his crew.

When the Commanders arrived, they were met by a most unusual and interesting sight. Marco and Thatch sat to each side of Whitebeard, which was not something odd, but it was how Thatch was attached to Ace that had a few of the other pirates laughing. The cook still gripped the fire user tightly by the wrist, but after a few attempts to pull away failed, the freckled man had found himself sitting in Thatch’s lap, wrapped up in his arms tightly so as to stop him from leaving. Ace didn’t quite know what this meeting was to be about, but he knew it had to do with him. And frankly, he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out what it was meant to specifically be about.

“Alright, Thatch. You had something that you wanted to say?”

“Oh, absolutely. You see, apparently, our Ace here doesn’t feel like we value his life,” the cook revealed, causing the younger man to flinch slightly.

“What do you mean he doesn’t feel like we value his life? He’s our brother!”

“Of course we value it!”

“You’ve got to be kidding!

“What the hell?”

“No way!”

“Ace, is this true?” Whitebeard’s voice cut through the exclamations from his sons. Ace flinched once more, curling into himself as though trying to hide. The room fell silent as they all waited for the freckled man’s response.

“It’s not like people want me alive anyway,” the man attempts to diffuse the situation, but his words inadvertently made his fellow commanders more worried about him.

“What do you mean?”

“You’d hate me for it,”

“There is nothing you could do short of betraying me and your brothers that would make us hate you,” Whitebeard assured Ace. The Second Division Commander seemed a little skeptical, but eventually nodded his head in agreement with his Captain.

“It’s about my father,” Ace began quietly, as though it was some kind of deep secret that he was about to share.

“We don’t care who your father was, Ace. You’re the person you are, not the person he was, yoi,” Marco assured the younger Commander.

Ace stared for a moment, silent. Then, he began speaking quickly but with an almost ashamed tone to his words, “My birth name was Gol D. Ace, Marco. I’d say my father is pretty important to who I am. After all, any spawn of his should not exist, right?”

Izou stared at his friend in horror, realizing that the younger man was repeating something he had likely heard many times before, “Ace…”

“Son, the identity of your father has no influence on what you mean to this crew,” Whitebeard declared.

“Really? You don’t care? The truth could bring the Marines down on you and you don’t care?” Ace’s eyes began to fill with tears as he asked these questions of his family. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Whitebeard looked down at his Second Division Commander, “It is important to know where we come from, but we ultimately make our own identities. So, Ace, who are you?”

Ace sat very still for a moment, thinking the question over in his head. Who was he? He was the son of the Pirate King and Portgas D. Rogue. He was the brother of Luffy and Sabo. He was the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. He was Whitebeard’s son. He was Captain of the Spade Pirates. He was a friend. He was a rival. He was many things.

“I’m Portgas D. Ace, Pops. I’m me,” the man finally answered, looking up at Whitebeard as he realized for perhaps the first time in his life that there was more to himself than he had ever thought. He was an individual and different than his biological father, but it was okay to recognize that his heritage was important.

“I’ve got a question though, if Ace is the son of the Pirate King, does that make him the Pirate Prince?”

“Thatch!” Ace shouted, elbowing the cook in the gut as he did so.

“OW! It was just a question!” Ace found himself laughing with Thatch at that point, feeling more free than he could ever remember.

“He does have a point, yoi. You’re kind of like a prince,” Marco teases, ruffling Ace’s hair as he does so. This caused some laughter from some of the other commanders and their captain, which, of course, made the Second Division Commander blush.

“Thank you for loving me and accepting me,”

“Of course, my son,” Whitebeard replied, his voice taking a much softer and more comforting tone. The gathered pirates stayed in the room for a while longer, not wanting to leave Ace alone yet, but they eventually had to return to what they had been doing before the meeting was called.

 

~TBA~

 

After the Fire Fruit user’s confession, it was not uncommon for the members of Whitebeard’s crew to see their Commanders taking time out of their day to be with or do things for Ace.

Thatch bringing extra food to Ace while the younger was working in his office used to be almost unheard of, but it now happened often enough that no one questioned it any longer. The cook even brought along the fire user’s favorites when he could.

It was well known that Ace didn’t have much skill when it came to repairing clothing, as such, he usually ended up replacing his clothing after a fight damaged it. Recently, however, it had become the norm for Ace’s damaged clothes to be found in Izou’s room where the man repaired the garments so that they could be worn again.

No longer was it uncommon to see the First and Second Division Commanders sparring together. Marco and Ace had taken to dragging each other away from their paperwork after a few hours in order to blow off some steam and move around a little.

Each of the other commanders seemed to do something different that strengthened their relationship with Ace too, something that everyone could see had made the Second Division Commander much happier. He was far more connected with the other commanders and more free with his emotions and affections with them as well.

For Ace, he was just happy to have a family. He was happy to be alive.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know how you liked it!


End file.
